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But as the director of a charity, she was responsible for organising a Christmas jumper fundraising day later that year.

She said: “I knew it would be hard finding a Christmas jumper in my size so I put it off until the last moment.”

When she finally braved the shops, all Fiona could fit was an XXXL jumper in the men’s department at Matalan. She said: “I felt ridiculous and couldn’t wait to get it off.”

But things got worse when she arrived at the party. Fiona said: “I made this big entrance and just wanted the ground to swallow me when I saw everyone dressed up. My friend admitted she’d forgotten to tell me they’d changed the dress code.”

Days later she signed up to the Cambridge Weight Plan, ditching junk food and takeaways for shakes and bars.

“It was so tough,” she said. “I had withdrawals from the sugar and awful headaches but in one week my clothes were looser. I was thrilled.”